


the shadow of you

by sincerelyjeno



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Attempt at Humor, Break Up, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Secret Identity, Sungchan is in love, Superheroes, Villains, baekhyun is mentioned, non-graphic mentions of vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29502537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincerelyjeno/pseuds/sincerelyjeno
Summary: sungchan knew that being the red shadow would impact his life but he wasn't aware that having these powers would ruin his relationship.
Relationships: Jung Sungchan/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 14
Kudos: 57
Collections: Challenge #5 - I heard a secret..





	the shadow of you

**Author's Note:**

> hey hey hey !!! thank you so much to the lovely mods of a little wonder for putting this fest on!! i am so excited to participate and i hope that you all enjoy my little story !!!

“Five seconds, Channie. You have five seconds to tell me what you are hiding from me and what you have been hiding from me this whole time. Five seconds before I get up and leave for good.”

Chenle was serious and Sungchan knew that but he just  _ couldn’t  _ say it. He couldn’t tell him. Telling Chenle meant putting him in danger and Sungchan made a promise to himself a long time ago that he would never  _ ever  _ put Chenle in danger. He wanted to. God, he wanted to tell Chenle more than anything in the world. Chenle was his person. The love of his life. Chenle was his  _ soulmate _ , and yet there were just some things that couldn’t be said.

“Unbelievable,” Chenle scoffs while walking towards the front door. “I hope you’re happy, Sungchan.”

With those words Sungchan hears the door slam and he lets out a loud sob. He just protected Chenle and his identity but at what cost? His relationship? His happiness? He would let evil run rampant through the streets if it meant that he could keep Chenle. He missed the beginning. He missed the kisses and the love. He missed himself.

~

Sungchan was running on autopilot. This part was the worst part. The chase. He hated chasing the bad guys around, but someone had to do it and the city had decided a 19-year-old college student running on more caffeine than sleep was the best candidate. He hated this part but he was grateful for the distraction. It had been almost a month since his heart had left him but the wound still feels fresh. He is still broken.

“Shadow! Do you hear me?!” A voice breaks through his headset, effectively cutting off his train of thought.

“Huh?”

“Did you hear what I just said?” His eyes of the whole city, Shotaro, said with a groan.

“No. What’s happening?” Sungchan asked after coming out of the shadows in a random alley.

“Dagger took another hostage.” Sungchan couldn’t help the eye roll he gave at the new information. Of course Dagger took another hostage.

“Alright do we know who it is?” Sungchan asked while preparing to do a quick shadow shift.

“Zhong Chenle.” 

“WHAT?!” Sungchan phased out of the shadow and slammed against the wall with a painful thud. Chenle was being held hostage. Sungchan had let him leave for his protection and he was being held hostage by the one person Sungchan hated most in the world, the fucking Dagger.

“I’m like 100% sure you heard me Shadow, The Dagger took your lover boy as a hostage which honestly, what else were we expecting.” Shotaro mused and Sungchan could hear typing over his ear piece.

“He’s not my lover boy.”

“He was. I have a location, do you want it?”

“No, I’ll just go galloping throughout the city and find him myself. Of course I want the fucking location!” Sungchan could feel bile rise up in his throat and he took a deep breath to calm his erratic heart. Freaking out wouldn’t do Chenle any good.

The voice of his mentor comes to his mind,  _ Keep a calm heart and mind despite everything.  _ Sungchan apologizes to Baekhyun in his mind. He needs to calm down to fix this.

“Shadow, he’s down on the docks.”

“Of course he is. Do you have an exact pin?”

“No, all I got are the docks.” He could hear the apology in Shotaro’s voice and he tried not to sound disappointed when he let out a sigh. It wasn’t Shotaro’s fault.

“That’s fine. I’ll hear them.” Sungchan said before melting into the shadows and effectively cutting off all communication with Shotaro. 

Traveling through the shadows was the time that Sungchan was completely alone. It was the only time that he was completely cut off from the rest of the world and while he enjoyed it most of the time, right now it was his personal hell.

He let Chenle leave for his safety and yet, here he was, chasing his ex-boyfriend down who had been kidnapped by his archnemesis. He was going to kill the Dagger the second he got his hands on him. How dare he touch the one thing about Sungchan’s life that made sense. How dare he lay a hand on the person that Sungchan is utterly besotted with.

~

He had been on the docks for 20 minutes and was popping in and out of the shadows just searching for a sign of Chenle. He needed to find Chenle.

“Let go of me!” 

_ Bingo _ . Sungchan thought as he raced towards the direction that Chenle’s voice had come from. He really hoped that Chenle was just yelling and that the Dagger hadn’t actually done anything to hurt him. Sungchan wasn’t normally so aggressive, but all bets were off. Chenle was in danger and that’s what mattered the most.

“Taro.” Sungchan hisses into his comm.

“I’m here.”

“Are there any cameras in building 49? That’s where the voice came from.” Sungchan was whispering and hoping to not draw attention to himself in any way. He couldn’t endanger Chenle more than he already was in.

“There’s one and honestly? This is some of the sketchiest camera footage that I have seen possibly ever. So, you are most definitely on your own. I’ll help where I can though.” Shotaro was apologetic and Sungchan sighed. He could do this. He had done it alone before Shotaro had come into the picture, so it shouldn’t be that difficult. 

Taking a deep breath, Sungchan let himself become one with the shadows once again and phased to where Chenle’s voice had come from. He hoped that Chenle was fine. If Chenle was hurt Sungchan knew that he wouldn’t be able to control himself, and that he would destroy the Dagger if it was necessary.

“You’re really annoying, you know that?” The Dagger’s disgusting voice said once Sungchan was fully out of the shadows and he felt himself begin to shake in anger. He fucking hated him.

“I’ve been told.” Chenle said in a smug tone and Sungchan smiled. 

“Hmm, hopefully that fucking hero comes soon to rescue you. I have never once regretted taking a hostage, but I really regret picking you up.” Sungchan tried not to laugh, leave it to Chenle to annoy the most notorious supervillain in the city. God, he loved him.

“Why don’t you just let me go?”

“And ruin my reputation?!”

“You lose literally every fight to the Red Shadow, I really don’t think you need my fault to ruin your reputation.” Chenle responded quickly while Sungchan got into place to phase directly behind the Dagger. 

“Wow you really know how to make a guy feel good.” The Dagger muttered sarcastically and Sungchan smirked before finally making himself seen.

“Stealing innocent civilians?”

“Someone has to keep your life interesting.” The Dagger said with a smile while turning around and gesturing around with his arms wide, “This just so happens to be my full time job.” 

Chenle snorted at that, “I imagine it doesn’t pay well.”

“It pays just fine.” The Dagger snapped while turning around to glare at his hostage who Sungchan had just realized was tied up.

“Let him go, Dagger.”

“Why should I?”

“He’s innocent. He’s a civilian. You have no problems with him. You have them with me, so let him go.” Sungchan hoped that The Dagger wasn’t joking when he said that he was just going to let Chenle go. It would make this whole situation easier.

“Hmmm, I’m going to let you take him, because I am in fact an angel.” Both Sungchan and Chenle couldn’t help but let out a laugh that had The Dagger glaring at both of them quite intensely. “As I was saying, I’ll let you go this time, but you watch out Shadow. I’ll destroy you.”

With those words, The Dagger did his typical disappearing act. Sungchan rolled his eyes before rushing over to Chenle who was still tied to a chair.

“Are you okay?” Sungchan whispered while gently untying him.

“I’m a little hurt that I wasn’t worth a big fight, but other than that I’m fine.” Chenle groaned as he stood and stretched. Sungchan couldn’t help the fact that he was staring at Chenle. This was the first time that he had seen the love of his life in almost a month and he could see just how tired he was.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sungchan didn’t know what else to ask. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream,  _ can’t you see me? Don’t you know it’s me? _ But he didn’t. Chenle couldn’t see who he was behind the mask and suddenly the reason they broke up came rushing back to him and Sungchan felt his heart drop. He couldn’t be here. It hurt too much.

“I’m good. Are you okay? You look like a ghost.” Chenle said with a concerned head tilt.

“I’m okay. I’d be better if we were out of the docks. I fucking hate it here.” Sungchan said while warily looking around. This was the place where everything bad happened. Sungchan lost Baekhyun here. Sungchan had almost died here. He hated being here longer than necessary.

“Oh shit, yeah let’s get out of here.” Chenle looked like he just remembered all that had happened to the Red Shadow in this very location.

“Would you like to walk out regularly, or is there somewhere that I can phase you too?” Sungchan was proud of himself. He hadn’t fucked up yet and given away his identity and honestly, that was a miracle within itself. He would have thought that by now Chenle would know that it was him but that was a conversation that he didn’t want to have.

“Yeah. Yeah, do you know the apartment complex by the Blue Cafe? Drop me off there.”

“Oh shit, Shadow, I think he’s going to see  _ you _ .” Shotaro’s voice broke through the comms and Sungchan nearly jumped. He forgot that Shotaro was there like always, just listening.”

“Yeah, I know it. Let me warn you. Phasing fucking sucks, especially if you aren’t used to it. So hold tight and please try to not throw up on me.” Sungchan said while opening his arms so that Chenle could walk into his arms and hold on.

“Uh, how does this work?” Chenle asked hesitantly while walking into Sungchan’s chest and wrapping his arms around the hero’s waist.

“Hold tight.” Sungchan let himself enjoy holding Chenle for a quick second before quickly phasing so that he wouldn’t make this situation more awkward for the other boy.

~

Sungchan didn’t want to admit that he actually phased through multiple different locations before finally ending in the alley by his building. He wanted to hold Chenle for just a bit longer and this was the only way that he could think of it happening.

They landed in the alley and Sungchan let go of Chenle slowly. He knows how bad the phasing through the shadows can affect someone the first time they try. The first time he phased with Baekhyun, he had thrown up on him so Sungchan tries to make it a comfortable experience. He holds Chenle up as he takes deep breaths and Sungchan allows himself to stare for just a little longer. Chenle was fucking gorgeous.

“How are you feeling?” Sungchan whispers.

“Like hell. How do you do that?” Chenle asks with a laugh and while he opens his eyes.

“My body’s just built for it. Can I let go?” Sungchan was still holding onto Chenle, but as soon as the other boy nodded he let go and took a step back. Chenle had dumped him and he was going to respect that.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. Are you going to be okay if I leave?” Sungchan took another step back. He needed the distance in order to think.

“Why would you leave? Sungchan, you live here.” Chenle asked with a head tilt and a quirk to his eyebrow and with that Sungchan froze completely. He could see Chenle staring at him with his arms crossed and he heard Shotaro laughing over comms but he couldn’t move. Chenle knew. Chenle  _ fucking knew. _

“Huh?”

Chenle rolled his eyes at Sungchan’s clever response before stalking towards him and effectively backing the hero up against the wall. “Jeong Sungchan, take us to your apartment. We have to talk.”

Sungchan shakily nodded before holding onto Chenle and phasing them into his apartment directly in the living room. He went to let go of Chenle but he just pulled Sungchan in closer and reached up to pull off the mask. Sungchan just stared with wide eyes as he let it happen. Chenle had figured it out and was looking at him with love in his eyes.

“I assume this is what you couldn’t tell me.” He whispered while stroking his fingers lightly across Sungchan’s jaw.

“I’m out Shadow, I do not want to hear any making up.” Shotaro quickly said before Sungchan heard the line go dead.

“How did you figure it out?” Sungchan asked while leaning down to rest his forehead against Chenle’s.

“If you think that I don’t have your voice memorized then you are the biggest idiot.” Chenle said with a smile.

“You scared the shit out of me, baby.” Sungchan whispered while closing his eyes, letting the warmth of the other man calm his erratic heart.

“I’m here. You saved me.” Chenle was stroking his hair now and Sungchan could feel himself beginning to melt into his favorite person’s arms.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I thought I was protecting you by not telling you, but you got kidnapped anyways. I fucked up, love. I fucked up so bad. Please forgive me.” Sungchan wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t. He just couldn’t believe that he was getting an opportunity to speak to Chenle again. He was getting another chance to hold him.

“Oh my big baby. The burden you must have carried all by yourself. I’m sorry for being selfish and breaking up with you. I love you so much. I love you more than words can say. You are my light and I want to ask for  _ your  _ forgiveness. Please let me make up for my mistakes. Jeong Sungchan, will you be my boyfriend again.”

Chenle was always the more romantic of the pair, but Sungchan was always the more affectionate. The second that Chenle had finished saying his piece, Sungchan had pulled him in close and had let their lips meet in a loving kiss. He had his love back. His person. His world. His soulmate.

“Yes. Zhong Chenle, I am in love with you and I would love to be your boyfriend again.” Sungchan said with a smile against his lover’s lips.

“One thing though.”

“Yes, my love?” Sungchan asked while pulling back slightly.

“No more secrets unless absolutely necessary.”

“I agree.” Sungchan grinned while leaning in for another kiss.

“Which reminds me…” Chenle let his sentence stray off while pulling back to look up at his boyfriend. 

Sungchan tilted his head and nuzzled his nose against Chenle’s neck, “What is it?”

“I know who The Dagger is.”

  
“ _ WHAT?!” _


End file.
